Discourse category approval rules by trust group
Require approval only for the risky cohort in a category, instead of forcing every topic and reply through the same moderation gate.
Why this can grow a startup
Approval queues go bad in two directions. Some communities approve nothing and let spam or low-quality posts leak into the archive. Others approve everything and bury moderators under unnecessary review work. Discourse's newer category approval controls make that tradeoff less blunt. Teams can require approval for everyone except certain groups, or for no one except certain groups, which lets the queue focus on first-timers, high-risk cohorts, or especially sensitive categories without slowing the whole community.
Company example
Discourse shipped category-level topic and reply approval controls in April 2026 so admins can gate new topics or replies for everyone except selected groups or for no one except selected groups from the category moderation tab.
Source and metric
Source: Discourse Meta: More flexible category-level topic and reply approvals
Discourse now supports approval rules for everyone except selected groups or no one except selected groups, with the controls collected on a dedicated Moderation tab.
Source discovered: May 30, 2026
When to use it
Use this when Community, Support, Operations is relevant to moderation design, spam control, queue hygiene and you can run a bounded test with a free budget.
When not to use it
Do not use it as a substitute for customer evidence, a clear owner, or a measurable stop condition. Local platform rules and market behavior still need checking.
Founder checklist
- Read Discourse Meta: More flexible category-level topic and reply approvals and identify what is directly supported.
- Choose one channel context: Community, Support, Operations.
- Define the test around Discourse now supports approval rules for everyone except selected groups or no one except selected groups, with the controls collected on a dedicated Moderation tab..
- Set an owner, evidence window, and stop condition before launch.
Explore the context
Apply this with an operator
Build creator and community systems around real incentives, trust, and repeat participation.